Steve Bell and Nerida Jessup from leading law firm, Herbert Smith Freehills, will present an update on recent legal developments across the WHS landscape including summarising recent cases on personal duties, corporate failings and public safety matters. Steve and Nerida will also give an update on proposed reforms to national WHS laws.

Patrizia Cassaniti, after the tragic loss of her 18-year-old son, Christopher, is campaigning for better safety standards. In April, Christopher Cassaniti was crushed and suffocated to death by 17 metres of fallen scaffolding at his Macquarie Park worksite. Patrizia and her husband Robert are fighting for justice and lobbying for #ChristophersLaw. She hopes to encourage new legislation that provides workers the right to remove themselves from a dangerous situation if they feel unsafe, without fear of persecution.

• Update on Industrial Manslaughter legislation in Victoria
• How does Victoria’s IM legislation compare with Queensland and the ACT?
• Is criminalization the right way to enforce OHS regulations, and improve safety outcomes?
• State or federal IM laws?

During this informative, interactive and dynamic keynote session, you will be emboldened to continue sharing the message of safety awareness internally and externally. Leave with new ideas and strategies to energize workplace relationships at all levels, with tangible and long-term results. This session will:

• Create a profound impact on organisational performance by harnessing new approaches and removing boundaries around safety
• Showcase your ideas for maximum impact during one-on-one or group meetings
• Enlighten leaders, co-workers and stakeholders with compelling reasons to ensure your safety messages are heard, supported and understood
• Apply the power of positive influence with an open mind, ensuring greater buy-in
• Raise your profile internally and strengthen the profile and reputation of safety leaders

Sydney Metro is the largest public transport project in Australia. Personnel in leadership positions directly and indirectly influence the safety decisions of thousands of workers daily. Through a case study of the first stage of the project, Sydney Metro Northwest, this session will explore:

• The knowledge, skills and experiences of project leaders that ultimately lead to an inherent value for the safety of others
• Successfully implementing and sustaining good leadership to drive a culture of safety
• Delivery of a safe and successful mega project

Recent Australian data has found that on average, 31% of incidents go unreported and in some organisations this figure rises as high as 53%*. And it’s not just frontline workers failing to report; leaders and managers also underreport at alarming rates. This session will:

• Explore underreporting insights from a research study of 12,460 participants, across team, leader and management levels
• Understand the three key drivers of underreporting and the risks to your business
• Outline proven strategies for addressing underreporting

*based on a sub-sample of 6,899 participants in Australia.

• Empowering staff to Speak Up For Safety using the Safety C.O.D.E.
• Introducing weCare – a disrupter to keep us all at Melbourne Health accountable for our behaviours and living the values
• Implementation challenges and the outcomes that have been achieved
• Where to after two years? Leadership development and humility
• In the words of our people, ‘We’re not there yet, but keep going!’

In 2016, drilling contractor Mitchell Services was facing its highest number of injuries to date. Realising that the existing oversupply and negativity of safety messaging wasn’t getting through, the company embarked on Operation Homestretch. This session will outline:

• The remarkably simple, zero-budget changes that led to a safety turnaround
• Safety Differently principles to directly engage, learn and improve systems of work form the people who do the work
• How Mitchell Services achieved significant injury severity reduction rates achieved while tripling its workforce, and earning the trust of its workforce

In this refreshing case study, learn just how easy it is to improve safety practices on limited resources if the focus is on the worker.

Jonah Group has improved the safety culture and systems of Australia’s largest organizations. This session will provide key insights, and strategies, to help managers:

• Understand how the brain introduces additional hazards
• Learn how to use that information to drive human reliability in safety

• Targeting the big risks
• Balancing these against ‘smaller’ risks
• Slips, trips and falls are important, but it’s most important to make sure you don’t kill your people.

The impacts of mental illness and ill-health in the workplace have never been higher or more visible. Despite this, many organisations continue to struggle with the effective management of psychosocial risks. These risks, which cover the combined influence that psychological factors and the surrounding social environment have on people’s physical and mental wellbeing, directly relate to our ability to function. An ongoing reliance on the reactive management of mental health ‘cases’ as they arise, or initiatives to help employees ‘cope’ better. These alone are not enough. A new approach is needed.

In this interactive session, participants will gain valuable insights concerning the most important aspects of psychosocial risk management via a real-life case study. The session will also cover pitfalls to avoid in trivialising or over simplifying what is one of the most challenging health and safety challenges of our time.